In 1921 it was the location of the Battle of Blair Mountain, one of the largest armed uprisings in U.S. history. More recently, the Buffalo Creek Flood of February 26, 1972, killed 125 people when a coal slurry dam burst under the pressure of heavy rains, releasing over of waste and water in a wave onto the valley below. The communities of Lorado and Lundale were destroyed and 14 other communities heavily damaged, including Saunders, Amherstdale, Crites, and Latrobe.